MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil's President to visit Egypt, Ethiopia, and Guyana next month

Lula will be attending the summit of the African Union, since last year a full member of the G20

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will take on a series of international engagements next month, including a Caricom Summit in Guyana, Agencia Brasil reported. He will also be traveling to Egypt on Feb. 15 and 16 to thank his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi for his support in pulling out Brazilian nationals and their families from the Gaza Strip.

On Feb. 17 and 18, Lula will be in the Ethiopian capital to take part in the assembly of heads of state and government of the African Union to be held in Addis Ababa.

Last year, the organization grouping 54 African nations, became a permanent member of the G20, a group that brings together the world’s 19 richest economies plus the European Union (EU). This year, Brazil chairs the G20 and will host the summit of the group’s heads of state in Rio de Janeiro in November.

“Brazil needs to start repaying once and for all the historic debt we owe to the African people,” Lula said last week during an appearance in Salvador. It will be Lula's second visit to the African continent in his third presidential term. Last year, he went to South Africa, Angola, and São Tomé and Príncipe, in addition to paying a quick visit to Cape Verde.

After returning from Africa, President Lula is slated to visit Guyana for the annual summit of the Caribbean Common Market and Community (Caricom), a regional group created in 1973 with 15 Caribbean countries. Lula's trip comes amid tensions between Guyana and Venezuela over the oil-rich Essequibo.

(Source: Agencia Brasil)